1. Introduction

This document details the policy for all education and training activities within the Inn with an assessment component. This currently applies to the following Education & Training (E&T) programmes:

• GDL and Bar Course Scholarships.
• Internship and Pupillage Awards.
• Pupils’ Advocacy Courses.

Before submitting a claim for consideration, we recommend that you contact us for support and guidance. Please see Annex A for the E&T Department’s contact details.

2. Definitions

Extenuating circumstances are normally circumstances that are exceptional, unforeseen and outside of your control which prevent you from performing in an assessment at the level expected or required of you.

Special consideration is the term used when we consider such cases of extenuating circumstances.

3. Scope

Below are examples of situations that this policy should be used to address:

1. Late submission of a scholarships application form.
2. Absence from a scholarship interview.
3. Absence from an educational event which is a mandatory component of an assessed course.
4. Late or non-submission of an assessed piece of work.
5. Request for an extension to an assessment deadline.
6. Instances where a reasonable adjustment could not be put in place due to, for example, a late diagnosis of a long-term medical condition. In such cases, please also refer to the Inner Temple Reasonable Adjustments Policy and contact the E&T Team (Annex A refers) for further guidance.

This policy does not apply to absence from educational training and events that are not formally assessed.

4. Policy

If you are aware of an extenuating circumstance in advance of an assessment, you must inform the E&T Department (Annex A refers) as soon as you become aware of the circumstance.

Otherwise, if you are unable to undertake an assessment or perform at the level expected or required of you, claims must be submitted to us within 24 hours of the relevant extenuating circumstance occurring.

We would normally expect you to submit your claim to us in accordance with the timeframes as stated above.

Nevertheless, we acknowledge that, exceptionally, there may be reasonable grounds for us to accept late special consideration claims and, in such instances, we would encourage you to contact us immediately.

Any claims for special consideration that have been separately addressed through our Reasonable Adjustments Policy will not be covered by this policy.

5. Acceptable extenuating circumstances

The following is a non-exhaustive list of extenuating circumstances which we would normally consider acceptable:

1. Bereavement/death or serious illness of a partner/child/close family relative (normally parents or siblings)/carer.
2. Temporary severe illness, accident, injury or hospitalisation that cannot be addressed through a reasonable adjustment request and which is sufficiently serious to negatively impact your performance.
3. Pregnancy when this leads to a specific illness (see 5 (b) above).
4. Long-term recurring or deteriorating health condition which cannot be addressed through a reasonable adjustment request.
5. Serious adverse personal circumstances.
6. Victim of crime.
7. Jury service.
8. Significant disruption at the assessment venue.
9. Incorrect or misleading information provided by us which impacts on your performance.
10. Administrative failure on our part which is detrimental to your performance.
11. Failure of Inner Temple electronic devices which is detrimental to your performance and outside of your control.
12. Other significant and exceptional circumstances outside of your control.

Where religious observance will impact on your ability to sit or submit an assessed component on a particular day, please complete our separate Religious Observance Form. Such request would not be considered within the scope of this Special Consideration Policy.

6. Unacceptable extenuating circumstances

The following is a non-exhaustive list of circumstances that would normally fall outside of the scope of special consideration:

1. Special consideration claim without acceptable supporting evidence (see Section 7 below).
2. Medical condition which has been addressed through our reasonable adjustment policy.
3. Minor medical conditions, e.g. a cold.
4. Evidence which is retrospectively dated and does not align with the assessment date(s).
5. Holidays, regardless of the date of booking.
6. Work commitments.
7. Moving house or attending events, such as weddings, which are planned in advance.
8. Issues with personal or workplace electronic devices, e.g. a broken laptop, and/or failing to back-up your work and/or loss/corruption of electronic files.
9. Poor time management or organisation, e.g. misreading a deadline or location details.
10. Late disclosure by you of extenuating circumstances.
11. Assessment performance which has been impacted by you breaking the law or consuming alcohol or non-prescribed drugs.
12. Transport delays or issues without satisfactory supporting evidence. Any such delays and issues must be exceptional and outside of your control.

7. Applying for special consideration

Any claim for special consideration must be submitted on a Special Consideration Application Form and supported by independent evidence.

Examples of supporting independent evidence could include a medical certificate/letter/documentation, death certificate, police evidence and a crime reference number.

Notwithstanding the requirement as stated in section 4 above to submit your claim within 24 hours of the date of the relevant extenuating circumstance occurring, all supporting evidence must be submitted within a maximum of one week from notifying us of the claim.

All supporting evidence must be in English, independently signed (including electronically) and/or on headed paper (as appropriate) and include your name and the date.

Any claim or supporting evidence will be treated as confidential.

8. Outcome

Your special consideration claim will be overseen by a panel approved by our E&T Committee. The Panel will consist of the following members:

• The Chair, Course Director or a delegated committee member of the appropriate committee.
• Two members of professional staff (one of whom will act as Secretary).

The panel has the option to delegate responsibility for certain claims to other relevant professional service staff. For example, straightforward claims on medical grounds would be processed by staff, then endorsed by the Panel, to enable faster resolution.

If your claim for special consideration is approved, we will apply one of the following outcomes:

• Allow you a new or second assessment opportunity.
• Take your extenuating circumstances into consideration when making an assessment decision, e.g. a scholarship outcome.
• No action taken/no special consideration awarded.

We will notify you of the outcome of your special consideration claim in writing (usually via email) within five working days from receipt. If a special consideration claim is declined, the reason for this will be provided.

9. Appealing a decision

If you have submitted a claim for special consideration and it is declined, you can appeal against this decision on either or both of the following grounds:

• There is new evidence that could not have been, or for good reason was not, made available at the time you submitted your Special Consideration Application Form.
• You are able to evidence a significant procedural error on the part of the Inner Temple in the consideration of your special consideration claim.

Any appeal should be submitted by completing the Special Consideration Appeals Form within five working days from the date of our decision notification.

Please note that any appeals in relation to final scholarship decisions or pupils’ advocacy course outcomes fall outside of this policy. In such cases, you should refer to the relevant Appeals Policy.

10. Data Protection

By submitting a special consideration claim, you agree to personal data being held for the purposes of processing the request in accordance with the 2018 Data Protection Act.

Annex A

Education & Training Department Contact Details